Pitman’s The Roaring Times conducted a survey via a short Google Form during the last two weeks of October to find out.
The survey consisted of five fourth-grade level questions, two questions answerable by a quick Google Search, and a couple optional questions about living in California. If you want to take the quiz for fun, you can try it at: https://forms.gle/ketD5xXGnqYg9q8JA.
So today, explore how informed Pitman students from local elementary schools are about our state and how they feel about the state of living in the Golden State.
But First: Diving Into State Curriculum
Californians in the 4th Grade throughout the state have gone through the same Social Studies curriculum since 2000: “California: A Changing State”. Within the 4th Grade year, students learn about California symbols, history, and values.
For the state curriculum, Roaring Times checked www.cde.ca.gov, the website for the California Department of Education. The Social Studies standards that 4th Graders learn are:
“4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic
features that define places and regions in California.
“4.2 Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions
among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish
mission and Mexican rancho periods.
“4.3 Students explain the economic, social, and political life in California from the
establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican-American War, the
Gold Rush, and the granting of statehood.
“4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power,
tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s.
“4.5 Students understand the structures, functions, and powers of the local, state,
and federal governments as described in the U.S. Constitution.”
So how did Pitman hold up? Did students remember their 4th Grade curriculum?
A Golden State, A Golden Preparation
For the most part, yes! Let’s take a look at how old student respondents are and where they went for the 4th Grade.
5-7% of Pitman students responded, mostly through the form being posted to their U.S. and World History Google Classrooms. See the chart on the right for the breakdown of how much of each graduating class participated in the survey.
A significant plurality of students reported that they went to Walnut
Elementary Education Center, where fourth graders four to eight years ago were instructed by Mrs. Kerry Nored, Mrs. Melissa Cortinas, Mrs. Marianne Vander Veen, and Mr. Shawne Arnold.
Significant portions of respondents were also from Medeiros, Osborn, Julien, Brown, and Keyes. On the left is the pie chart breaking down where students went for fourth grade. (Only the first two pages of results are shown, all other responses were from elementary schools from either SoCal or the Bay Area.)
Note: A good amount of respondents also reported that they were not present in the United States in the fourth grade.
For most students, it’s been at least four years (and eight years for Class of 2025ers) since they’ve been in classrooms learning about the indigenous land Californians live on, listening to the state song, and visiting the Missions off of El Camino Real.
Breaking Down the Questions: Pitman Scores 4+/7 Over 90% of the Time!
Question One: Which California mission is Junipero Serra buried at?
This question was, admittedly, the hardest question on the test. The missions and Spanish colonial period are talked about at great length at most elementary schools, but are later overshadowed by the Gold Rush and Mexican-American War.
Out of 156 responses, only 57 students guessed the correct answer: Mission Carmel.
Some respondents that took the quiz reached out to say that Carmel would have been their second guess, with 54 students marking “Mission San Juan Bautista” and 21 marking “Unsure/Don’t know”.
Overall, this question was the one that made the most sense to miss. Most Pitman students that took the quiz went on to get most of the remaining questions correct.
Question Two: What country was California a part of right before the Bear Flag Revolt?
California has had an extremely rich history, best exemplified by its consistently rebellious attitudes towards unwelcome governments. After years of being a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the country that followed it, American immigrants in Sutter’s Fort revolted and created a nation of their own.
Out of the 156 answers, 126 students correctly answered that California used to be a part of Mexico before becoming its own independent country. Speaking of!
Question Three: True or False? – California used to be its own independent republic.
This question was a surprise. Students were asked if Ca
lifornia used to be its own independent republic after the Bear Flag Revolt question, with the image on the right as the banner to the Google Form.
Despite all of those factors, 47% of students still answered “FALSE” for this question. As a result, the question may have been poorly worded or unclear.
Still, the majority of students got the question right; 53% of respondents answered “TRUE”.
Question Four: What were the people who came during the Gold Rush called?
Sports fans rejoice! This question got the most correct responses, with 94% of respondents coming in right.
Respondents were given the options:
“The 49ers”
“The Ducks”
“The 76ers”
“City of Angels FC”
“Unsure/Don’t Know”
An astounding 146 students answered the correct answer: The 49ers.
Question Five: What is California’s state song/anthem?
As a Walnut alumnus, I knew to check this question especially. Everyone in the fourth grade at Walnut Elementary had to sing the state anthem for the day that California was admitted to the Union.
Nice enough, all of the Walnut students who responded to this survey did answer this question correctly (even as other potential songs like “California Love (feat. Roger Troutman & Dr. Dre)” by Tupac, “California Dreamin’” by The Mamas and The Papas and “California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg” by Katy Perry were on the list).
111 students, or 71% of respondents, answered correctly with “I Love You California” by F.B. Silverwood and A.F. Frankenstein.
Question Six: Who is the current Governor of California?
This question and the following one were “Extracurricular Questions”, which are questions that aren’t necessarily a part of the fourth grade curriculum but are pretty basic knowledge.
Both of these questions had negligible incorrect answers: 91% (142) of students answered Gavin Newsom.
Question Seven: What is the state flower of California?
This sentence provided both the general and scientific names for the plants listed. All of the options were state flowers.
The Yucca is New Mexico’s, the Bluebonnet is Texas’, and Hawai’i’s is the Ma’o hau hele (or the Yellow Hibiscus).
95.5% of respondents answered correctly with the Golden Poppy (also known as the Eschscholzia californica).
90% of students got four or more of these questions correct, with an average score of 5.21 questions correct. Great work Pitman!
Extra Data!
After the quiz, I left students an extra four optional response sections for their opinions on California.
The SoCal v. NorCal Debate:
When asked if they preferred NorCal (Fresno and up), SoCal (everything south of Fresno), or all of the Golden State, the results were resoundingly in favor of our home territory.
80 respondents (making up 54% of the 149 responses) reported that they prefer NorCal, with the next most popular option being “I love all of California!” with 43 responses. 21 respondents, some of them coming from SoCal regions like Orange County and the Inland Empire, reported preferring SoCal.
Do Pitman students follow the exodus trends?
Respondents were asked if they would choose to stay in California (disregarding economic issues like cost of living). The original wording of the question confused some respondents who reached out to let me know they meant to change their answer.
With that in mind, 60-70% of the 147 respondents indicated that they would prefer to stay in California, with 24% unsure.
California Values: Yes or No? and Short Answer Responses
83% of respondents reported that they value the things California offers. From the weather to policies and diversity, they made their thoughts on our state values known.
Here are a couple Short Answer Responses from a “Please Elaborate” section that followed that stood out to me.
“I love the diversity of California. Especially living in the valley, we live in such convenient proximity to so many locations like the Bay Area, beaches, and parks like Yosemite. Also lots of different industry opportunities here like tech, entertainment, and such that other states don’t have.”
“I love living in a state with such great values and weather. I feel like I have everything I could ever need here and that the state is here to take care of its citizens.
“It does truly feel like its own country sometimes because of how we’re entitled to our freedoms here [while some other parts of the country take certain freedoms away].”
“California offers a diverse and vibrant lifestyle with stunning natural landscapes, from beaches to mountains. Its cultural richness and innovation, particularly in technology and entertainment, make it an exciting place to live.”
“Challenges like high living costs and environmental issues can impact the overall experience.”
“I hate [living in California]. The weather is great, but the Valley sucks. It is so liberal here… it’s absolutely revolting. Once I leave, I will not be coming back as the Democrats have overrun the place. Plus the homeless situation we have here is ridiculous, and the ‘open’ borders.”
“I love that there are mountains, beach, desert, and redwood forest all closely together but I dislike the high rates of homeless people and the high cost of living.”
“Seeing the freedom we have here compared to other places makes me feel grateful to be living here in California. I can’t imagine what life would be like if I had no freedom of speech or if everything was just so strict.”
“Fire, dog. California eats, man.”
The Pride with California Pride
Fourth graders in California learn California studies for their social studies curriculum. Four to eight years later, Pitman High School students make their fourth grade teachers proud.
I spoke with one of the U.S. History teachers that helped host this quiz. He had this to say about the high scores of Pitman students:
“It’s encouraging to know that students don’t forget all of the history that we teach them throughout school. Hopefully we learn from our history and don’t repeat our mistakes.”
It’s clear that the Pitman Pride has a lot of California pride.